Month: June 2017

from left to right, top to bottom:
@makicocomo, @naginekos, @neco193,
@holdenandwinston, @thesproutingimage, @theboythecat

Capturing beautiful photos of cats is difficult enough without adding tiny humans to the mix, but there are Instagrammers out there who attempt it and succeed. In this post, I focus on accounts that have lovely shots of felines with their human kid companions. Although I normally feature nine accounts, there are only six this time, and finding even six was tough. Unlike the other posts in this series, not all of these accounts are exclusive to photos of cats and some have over 10,000 followers. However, the pictures that feature cats and kids are beautiful. Take a look.

Gabliel is a Russian Blue residing in Yokohama, Japan. Now two years old, he was the baby until, well, a new baby showed up last year. This is a cat Instagram that occasionally includes a small human. The feline is a handsome Russian Blue with gray fur and green eyes. His photographer captures him throughout their home, a crisp setting which appears impressively clean considering the fact that a human baby lives there.

Samaria Daniel is a photographer who captures James the cat and Judah the human, among other creatures and things. James often hangs out either in or beside the crib, both with and without Judah. They live in Bellevue, Washington, and this account features both indoor and outdoor photos. There is also a dog, but that is outside the purview of this blog.

The Boy and The Cat is a newer Instagram account with the first posts in February being of older photos showing newborn Boy with curious Cat. Their location isn’t shared, but the fun captions are in Russian. (I know they’re fun, thanks to Google Translate.) These two buddies have many adventures together involving a high chair, litter box, windows, and more. The two are, charmingly, matching gingers.

Nagisa Tanaka’s account features three cats, plants, and kids, but the stars are Maruta (the white and ginger cat) and the 13-month-old tiny girl human, who often appear together. Posting from Japan since 2011, this photographer takes vibrantly colored shots of daily life. I think it might be impossible to look at these photos and not fall in love with Maruta and her little person.

Holden is a human and Winston is a cat, and they were born just seven weeks apart. (Holden will turn one in August while Holden’s birthday falls in September.) They’re basically brothers and often rough house as siblings tend to do. Holden’s joy and awe over Winston and Winston’s patience with said joy and awe are pretty great to see.

Using a sepia-esque filter, this photographer shows us their home life in Japan with four cats and four human kids. The pictures are beautiful and most feature both cats and tiny humans. makicocomo first posted in 2011, and one can scroll through the photos and watch both sets of babies (feline and human) growing up.

Before I close, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Instagram account that inspired this post. @_kyalotta asks for photos not to be copied so I did not include them here, but you would be doing yourself a disservice if you did not check out these gorgeous photos of cat and tiny humans.

DIY Stroller Organizer with the Essentials:Baby sunscreen, snacks (teething wafers and banana), water for Mom and baby (well, the baby’s cup is in the cup-holder, but it could have fit in the basket), sunglasses for Mom, teething toy, keys. (Phone not pictured because I was using it to take this picture.)

I love organizing things, and having a baby has opened up an enormous new realm of organizational possibilities. Take, for instance, the stroller organizer. Ten months after Hazel was born, I realized that I could no longer live without one. I needed immediate access to the essentials, and the basket underneath the seat required too much stooping and rummaging which so quickly escalated into desperation as Hazel screamed (which she often prefers to do in quieter settings, such as the public library). Hanging my purse with supplies from the aftermarket velcro hooks on the handles started as a decent substitute but soon became another source of frustration as zippers and the non-baby stuff of purse-land stood in between me and whatever thing I was hoping would magically turn the situation around.

So I needed a stroller organizer, but my tight summer budget prevented me from buying this lovely one and my non-existent sewing skills kept me from making this cute little number. What was a resourceful and broke mom who is obsessed with constantly creating better systems of organization to do?

I spend a lot of time in Family Dollar. There is one right up the street from our house*, and it’s a nice place to rest for a few minutes on our morning walks. Well, Family Dollar has these little baskets for $1 each, and I couldn’t help but think that one of these might make for a great DIY stroller organizer. And it does. I initially used twist ties to attach it, which worked just fine until it was time to fold up the stroller before placing in the back of my, um, automobile. The basket needed to be more easily removable. So I used the velcro stroller hooks I already had. Keeping the basket tightly attached (and therefore not so prone to tipping) takes a little bit of finagling, but I am still enjoying my budget-friendly organizer very much.

The end.

*I often wonder about referring to my home as a house when I don’t actually live in a house. Our home is a townhouse, sharing walls with neighbors. According to Merriam Webster, house can be defined as “a building in which a family lives,” which is quite broad and most likely includes townhouses in its umbrella definition. But it still gives me pause. This is similar to the times when I say car to refer to my truck. I left my phone in the car. Sometimes I catch myself before the words come out of my mouth, but then I always feel like I’m bragging. I left my phone in the truck, and yes, I am very proud of the fact that I drive a truck. I’ve even gone so far as to try to use the all-encompassing vehicle instead, but good golly, then it feels like I’m pointing a neon sign to my overthinking of this and everything else.**

**This makes me think of how at one point, perhaps a few years ago, I had to work really hard at saying phone instead of iPhone when referring to my personal cellular device. I am a tool for Apple products, but I don’t need to be announcing that to the world.

from left to right, top to bottom:@clarkstoeckley, @ackey_mk2, @nekoomoi,@hkguidemeow, @ottiliekat, @berner2222,@sev_cats, @kochi_56562, @nora_wasabie

Cat Instagram. It’s not just for the domestic feline. There are many fine photographers pounding pavements worldwide to capture cats on the streets. Here, I share with you nine such accounts. Still in play from my first post in this series are my cat photography criteria: photographers who do not depend on gimmicks or gorgeous models alone, who post beautiful and interesting pictures of the cats they present, and accounts with fewer than 10,000 followers.

from left to right, top to bottom:@camu_the_casanova, @milkshakitten, @killiscat,@bostonandzoe, @aya_and_ghost, @onebigfurryfamilyy,@sunnythesiberiancat, @danniyiu, @mr_fluffybuns

Cat Instagram. As of this posting, there are over 114 million posts tagged #cat, hundreds of articles and blog posts on the best Instagram cats, and feline Instagram stars like Nala, who has 3.4 million followers. And how wonderful this is for those of us who love using the Internet to admire cats. So many stunning felines to ooh and ahh over!

But.

As someone who spends quite a bit of time in the land of Cat Instagram, I regret to report that most of the pictures are lackluster. The photography leaves much to be desired and many of the popular accounts hinge on the cat’s unique physicality alone or gimmicks, such as the dressing up of said cats or the inclusion of I-can-has-cheezburger-esque captions. Whatever happened to maintaining a cat’s dignity, you find yourself asking.

There is hope, however, and to find it, we must look to the photographers who respect their models, who post beautiful, interesting, and varied pictures of the cats they present to the Instagram world. This is the first of a blog series dedicated to these shutterbugs. Here, I share with you nine Instagram accounts, each featuring stunning cat photography. I chose to look only at accounts with fewer than 10,000 followers, an arbitrary number that, to me, feels like a tipping point.

A stunning cat alone doth not a great Instagram make. The photographer determines the quality of an Instagram feed, and in the hands of the right person, a Cat Instagram can change the world. Or at least really brighten your day.

A newer member of the Cat Instagram community, Camu is a 4-month-old Russian Blue residing in Helsinki. Camu’s photographer captures him indoors and out and also photographs Camu’s roommate Leo (@bengal_boy_leo).

Boston and Zoe are two Birmans living near Munich with their photographer, the illustrator and graphic designer Barbara von Tannenberg. Boston is a 2008 rescue from Spain while Zoe was adopted in 2010.

This furry family consists of eight rescued cats: Cuddle, Snowball, Mango, Pepper, Maximus, MeekoChan (pictured above), Alexander, and Bub. There are also two dogs, Leonardo and Turtle, who occasionally make an appearance. Their photographer captures them solo and in groups.

Mr Fluffybuns and his photographer Instagram from the Netherlands, where this handsome ginger was adopted from an animal shelter. He appears to reside with his two humans and another feline, who occasionally appear with him in his photos.

Aya and Ghost reside in London, and neither is quite a year and a half old yet. They appear to be the best of friends, and their photographer often captures them together. Aya is the beautiful yawner while Ghost often gazes intensely toward the camera.

Milkshake is one year old and lives in Scotland. She loves tuna. Her photographer captures her throughout the house, from playing the piano to lying in the bathroom sink to pawing at the star on top of the Christmas tree.